By Veena Lydia and Kit Shangpliang, World Vision India Communications
From a distance the field looks lush and green, but on closer inspection, it turns out to be destroyed beyond compare. Because of the flood.
 The land belongs to 8-year-old Bheemana Govda’s family who lives in a village in Bijapur district in the southern state of Karnataka. The last five years have been disastrous for Bheemana’s family. In 2006, and earlier in 2009, they battled a severe drought. Now, the floods have devastated everything.
The Govda family depends on the land for a living, but their livelilhood comes at a huge price, in the form of expensive bank loans. The family needs to produce good harvests to repay their loans. The recent flood came just when the family had completed repaying a loan of Rs20,000 (US$400) and was committing to another loan of Rs50,000 (US$1000) for the new season.
“If there was no flood, there would have been some money left over for household expenses, but now I am worried,” says Bheemana’s mother.
She earns a daily wage of only Rs50 (US$1) for her work as a labourer in other people’s fields.
Migration
For the Govda family to move forward, they would need courage and all the help they can get. First of all, the clearing of the fields will take about two months. Tilling, to prepare the land for summer crops, will only start in March 2010. Until that time, this family may not have enough to eat.
Bheemana’s grandfather, who stays in a nearby village, has sent some grain for Bheemana and his two siblings. But this supply is running out.
For many families in Bijapur district, their economic losses mean that parents may have to migrate in search of employment opportunities elsewhere.
“Families have already started moving to the nearby and more prosperous state of Maharashtra,” says Eliyazar, a World Vision Programme Manager.
World Vision’s response to date:
- World Vision is currently helping 8000 of the worst-affected families in the states of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, with a budget approaching about US$519,000
- The organisation is ultimately targeting assistance to a total of 25,000 families and has requested US$2million for this relief effort
- World Vision is providing cooked and non-cooked food to flood survivors, as well as non-food family packs containing relief materials, such as tarpaulins and clothing
World Vision is working closely with community-based organisations on child protection issues, and also on efforts to persuade communities not to opt for migration
People who want to make a donation, may do so through World Vision New Zealand’s Asia-Pacific Emergency Relief Fund by going to https://www.worldvision.org.nz/Donations |
